Krib spawning

[Bella123]

My male and female kribs have been together for about a week now, they have started doing little shakes for eachother, and now they are building up stones in front of the entrance to their cave. The male spends the most time outside of the cave, chasing away other fish that come too close and the female occasionally comes out, but no where near as often as the male, and never for longer than a few seconds. I was wondering if this behaviour indicates that they have spawned, or if there are any other behaviours that indicate that they may have?

 

[AlexT]

Very much sounds like it, or if they haven't, they are about to. But the female staying put usually means eggs. I've had kribs breeding before, but many years ago. Let's see what others think.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Sounds very promising

 

[GaryE]

She will sometimes completely wall up the entrance to the cave. It means there are eggs, and she is fanning and guarding them as she removes any that aren't good. Sometimes, in the first few spawns, nothing results but the fish learning.
When they hatch, they'll be in larval form, and she'll stay with them. In a week to ten days she'll bring the herd of babies out, and then the krib parenting show begins. They do more than defend the fry - they lead them to food, away from areas of low oxygen and keep them organized. Both parents participate. You may see them picking up babies in their mouths and rolling them through to clean them.
Hopefully the tank has plants and tankmates that won't kill the young - the parents can only win so many battles. A family of kribs is a great sight.
Care continues for 5-8 weeks, but when they are ready to spawn again, juveniles become a threat to the new batch. In nature,m they swim away. In tanks, they are seen as a threat and usually killed.

 

[Bella123]

Thanks everyone for all the help! I have a well planted aquarium so hopefully any babies will survive